SSL on Open vSwitch and ovs controller

There are two places that SSL will need to be configured if SSL is to be used between the controller and the Open vSwtich. The instructions below assume an installation of Open vSwitch using Ubuntu packages. If you installed by alternate means, the location of the openvswitch/pki might be different.

Open vSwtich Setup

Create all the keys and register them with Open vSwitch.

cd /etc/openvswitch
sudo ovs-pki req+sign sc switch
sudo ovs-vsctl set-ssl     /etc/openvswitch/sc-privkey.pem     /etc/openvswitch/sc-cert.pem     /var/lib/openvswitch/pki/controllerca/cacert.pem

The above might not be the most secure way to manage the keys, but again, this is for research and experimentation.

Open vSwtich test controller ovs-controller Setup

Create all the keys.

cd /etc/openvswitch
sudo ovs-pki req+sign ctl controller

Running a Sample Test

In one window, let’s start the ovs-controller with SSL support.

sudo ovs-controller -v pssl:6633      -p /etc/openvswitch/ctl-privkey.pem      -c /etc/openvswitch/ctl-cert.pem      -C /var/lib/openvswitch/pki/switchca/cacert.pem

Next, below is a sample Mininet Python script. Run this Mininet script that creates a simple single switch topology and sets the controller to SSL.

#!/usr/bin/python
from mininet.net import Mininet
from mininet.node import Controller, RemoteController
from mininet.cli import CLI
from mininet.log import setLogLevel, info

def emptyNet():
    net = Mininet( controller=RemoteController )
    net.addController( ‘c0‘ )
    h1 = net.addHost( ‘h1‘ )
    h2 = net.addHost( ‘h2‘ )
    s1 = net.addSwitch( ‘s1‘ )
    net.addLink( h1, s1 )
    net.addLink( h2, s1 )

    net.start()
    s1.cmd(‘ovs-vsctl set-controller s1 ssl:127.0.0.1:6633‘)

    CLI( net )
    net.stop()

if __name__ == ‘__main__‘:
setLogLevel( ‘info‘ )
emptyNet()

When you run the script, you will see that a PingAll test ran and passed. You can also check and see that switch is connected using SSL.

[email protected]:~$ sudo ovs-vsctl show
902d6aa3-6a0a-4708-a286-3301c8b36430
    Bridge "s1"
        Controller "ssl:127.0.0.1:6633"
            is_connected: true
        fail_mode: secure
        Port "s1"
            Interface "s1"
                type: internal
        Port "s1-eth1"
            Interface "s1-eth1"
        Port "s1-eth2"
            Interface "s1-eth2"
    ovs_version: "2.0.1"

SSL on Open vSwitch and ovs controller